Critical Make - turning functionality

One week about DIY culture.

duration: Thu-Wed23.-29.04.201512:00

The tinkerers, hackers and researchers of the DIY movement are an important part of the electronic arts. This makes them a crucial point of reference and essential cooperation partner for the House of Electronic Arts.

Main Focus of the Critical Make is the ongoing critical discourse about DIY practices in a neoliberal environment that has been taking place inside the DIY scene for years. The term “Critical Making” refers to DIY as a practice that links digital activities to society and describes thinking as a “hands-on process”.

This approach seeks to overcome institutional boundaries between thinking and acting, nevertheless implying a sort of ambivalence when it comes to the techno-social, a concept that is characteristic for the situation of the DIY and Maker culture. The combination of technology and society enables a functionalization of these correlations, e.g. in optimization of processes in organizations. The exploitation discourse of innovation and entrepreneurship has long since influenced the DIY culture, being affected by these dynamics of functionalization. “Critical Make” is interested in current practices with technologies that operate in this dichotomy and employ measures in a non-economical way: a „Détournement“ (G. Debord), a reversing and turning of purpose, utility and functionality per se. Enabling new perspectives on DIY culture, this week introduces the political, social and economical aspects of DIY culture and their impact on artistic practices.

“Critical Make” is an exhibition as well as a platform and event space in which workshops, presentations, talks, discussions and other formats discussing functionality and DIY culture and practice take place.